Ammunition



Dec. 1, 1931. c. A. BURGHARDT AMMUNITION I Filed April 11, 1930 few/MINVENTOR. (flair AuBl/rglliirdt BYQQ a,

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Patented Dec. 11, 1931 sraes PATENT OFFICE CLAIR A. BURGHZARDT, OFBRID'GEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, '10'AMERICAN HAIR & FELT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLIhTOIS, A

CORPORATION OF DELAWARE mumrron Application filed April 11, 1930. SerialNo. 443,261.

The present invention relates to wads for shot shell ammunition and tomaterials for such wads. In my Patent No. 1,724,338 for ammunition,dated August 13, 1929, there is disclosed an improved shot shell wadformed from wad material comprising a reinforcing center of woven fabrichaving a felt of short hair fibres secured to said fabric center, a

substantial portion of the hair being ar ranged to extend substantiallyaxially of the wad. Such wads are quite compressible axially andexpansible radially under axial compression, thereby forming a moreperfect gas check in the gun than is afforded by older forms of wads,and possessing numerous advantages over wads used theretofore.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a wad materialpossessing many of the advantages of the wad material disclosed in theabove-mentioned patent, while at the same time possessing a simplifiedconstruction.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a wad material inwhich the necessity for a fabric reinforcement is entirely eliminated,and which hnaterial is composed substantially in its entirety of a feltof short hair fibres.

These and further objects are fulfilled by the present invention, aswill be clear fromthe following specification of which the accompanyingdrawings form a part.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation, partly in section, of an embodiment ofa shot shell containing wads made according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section: of a sheet of wad materialmade ac cording to the present invention.

According to the present invention, it has been discovered that amaterial which is entirely suitable for shot shell wads may be formedfrom short hair fibres by felting said hair fibres together withoutincorporating in the material a fabriccenter or other similarreinforcement. It has been discovered that suitable wad material maythus be produced without the necessity of passing the hair fibresthrough a reinforcing center. A

wad-material formed of felted short hair fibresalone is found to besufficiently tenacious to withstand the abuse of ordinary hanessofneedle punching, vibration, or other suitable felting operation. Byusing a base of suitable material, such as rubber or closely wovenfabric sheeting, the felting may be eflected without attaching the hairto the base. Or, if desired, the hair fibres may be felted on one sideof a fabric base, for example by needle punching or vibrating methods,the felt being permitted to attach itself to the fabric by passage ofportions of the hair through the interstices of the fabric; and then,after felting, this fabric may be removed from the felted hair by anysuitable means, as by cutting.

Variations in rigidity, hardness. texture, etc., of the wad material maybe effected by incorporating various amounts of size in the material andby subjecting the material to various degrees of pressure. Uniformity inthickness of the sheets of wad material may be controlled by varying theamount of hair used in the felt and by applying various degrees ofpressure to the material after felt- Referring now to the drawings,Figure 1 lshows a shot shell cartridge embodying wads 10 and 11 madeaccording to the present invention. An over powder wad 12 of compressedpaper or other relatively hard material is provided. Wads made accordingto the present invention are found to be sulficiently rigid and strongto serve in the capacity of over powder wads and, if desired, may besubstituted for the'wad 12 of other material. Obviously, any number ofwads may be incorporated in the shot shell, to suit particular needs,and these wads maybe variously positioned in the cartridge, as desired.In Figure 2 is illustrated insection a sheet of Wad material 13 madeaccording to 1 cutting the material into wads in which the transverselydirected hair extends axially.

4. The method of producing shot shell wads which comprises felting abody of short hair on a base in such manner as to direct a substantialportion of the hair normally of the base; removin the felted materialfrom said base, and su sequently cutting the material into wads in whichthe normallydirected fibres extend axially.

CLAIR A. BURGHA'RDT.

the present invention; showingthe hair fibres felted together, asubstantial portion of these fibres being arranged to extend in adirection substantially normal to the surfaces 14:

of the wad material, rather than parallel thereto, thereby affordingcompressibility of the material in a direction axially of the finishedwad and expansibility in a direction .radially of the wad, to effect theresults hereinbefore stated. As illustrated in Figure 1, the wads arepreferably cupped slightly to present convex surfaces as seen from therear, thereby providing a spring action of the wads in a lateraldirection to grip the sides of the shot shell wall securely, and toprovide additional resiliency for effecting an eflicient gas check inthe bore of the gun. The resilient and somewhat flexible construction ofthe present wads lends itself particularly well to this cuppingexpedient, and the spring action afforded by this expedient is greatlyenhanced by the expansibility of the present construction, aboveexplained.

As above pointed out, the wad material of the present inventionis formedsubstantially in its entirety of short hair fibres. It is to beunderstood, however, that the provision of some additional ingredients,such as sizing, is contemplated as falling 'withinthe scope of thepresent invention ashereinafter claimed. The term unreinforced as usedin the specification and claims is to be understood as referring to awad material in which a reinforcing center of fabric or other materialis eliminated.

What I claim is:

1. A shot shell wad vcomprising an unreinforced felt composed entirelyof short hair, a substantial portion of such hair extending axially ofthe wad.

2. A shot shell wad comprising a sized, unreinforced felt composedentirely of short hair, a substantial portion of such hair extendingaxially of the wad.

3. The method of producing shot shell wads which comprises felting anunreinforced body of short hair together in such manner as to direct asubstantial portion of the hair transversely of the body, sizing thematerial, applying pressure, and subsequent-

